Fingerprinting, the K-9 Unit and more will be part of the St. Joseph Police Department’s Junior Police Academy.

This will be the first year of the program. Devin Kallauner is a police officer and school resource officer. Kallauner said the Junior Police Academy is similar to the Citizen’s Academy held in the spring, but is geared toward students ages 12 to 14 who may be interested in law enforcement.

“This is going to be a little bit of education, but there’s a lot of hands-on,” Kallauner said. “You’re going to be taking fingerprints, learning how to lift a fingerprint… we’re going to have the K-9 unit come in, they’re going to talk to all the kids, explain to them why they would use the K-9… the same way with the bicycle unit, the traffic unit, the SRT Team. There’s a lot of personalization, there’s a lot of talking, a lot of stories, there’s going to be a lot of questions, we’re excited for those.”

Kallauner said there will be no tasing or handling of weapons or ammunition during the Junior Police Academy.

“I’ve had a lot of questions… the students are not going to be maced, they’re not going to be tased, we’re not going to handcuff them, that’s not the kind of academy it’s going to be. It’s going to be more (of) learning about our job, trying to get them interested and if there is a spark, then great,” Kallauner said. “This is not all about the St. Joseph Police Department, if kids get interested in this, there are hundreds of other things they can do… and that’s kind of what we’re wanting to show them is just the other aspects of police work.”

The Junior Police Academy takes place from 8 a.m. to noon July 16-20, 2018.

The deadline for registration for the Junior Police Academy is June 1st. Applications are available online and should be dropped off at the St. Joseph Police Station at 501 Faraon Street.